SketchUp Skill Builder: Control shading for interior spaces

If you use SketchUp to model interior spaces, you adjust the shadow settings for every Scene you create, right? Ok, great… wait, you don’t do that? No worries; many people overlook this easy adjustment in SketchUp!

In the video, I also show how to instruct your ceiling to *not* cast a shadow, which can create the effect of overhead lighting when the sun is positioned directly overhead. If your ceiling plane is not casting one big unhappy shadow over your interior space, SketchUp’s simulated sun will then be able to shine “through” the ceiling and create shadows as if there were no ceiling at all. Weird, perhaps, but also useful.

Follow these steps to simulate general overhead lighting in your space:

Go to Window > Entity Info to open that panel.

With the Select Tool, click on the entity (in this case, the ceiling plane). Note that it can be a Group, Component, or even just a single face that is un-Grouped (gasp!).

With that thing still selected, click on the icon furthest to the right in the 'Toggles' row of the Entity Info panel (see image above) to control whether or not shadows are cast by this thing. (Note that you'll also need to do this for any lighting fixtures you might have on your ceiling.)

You’ll need shadows turned on for this, so engage them with the shadows toggle.

Adjust your Time slider so that it’s close to noon. This is important because a midday time value produces shadows that appear to come from a light source directly overhead. You also may want to dial in the Date slider to get those shadows just right.

Save these shadow settings to a new Scene.

Bask in the glow of an improved interior scene.

Thirsty for more shady information? Take a look at this stuff:

Check out this article for an example of when you might want to instruct a face to not receive shadows.

Josh originally joined the team for a year with Google as a SketchUp Trainer in 2008 and later rejoined SketchUp with Trimble in 2013. He is a map nerd, enjoys long walks in the mountains, skiing, playing soccer, kickball, disc golf, and... any sport or backyard game out there!